of cleveland



A. O. DUPUY.

MOLD LIFTING MECHANISM.

APPLICATION FILED APR. 30. [9|]- Patented Dem-{2,1231% UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

ARTHUR o. DnrUY, or CLEVELAND, OHIO, ASSIGNOR. To THE 0. o. BARTLETT AND SNOW COMPANY, 'OF CLEVELAND, OHIO, A CORPORATION OF OHIO.

Specification of Letters Patent.

' orin-11mins MECHANISM.

Original application filed March 23, 1915, Serial N 0. 16,371. Divided and this application filed. April 30,

1917. Serial No. 165,645. 7

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, ARTHUR O. DUPUY, a citizen of the United States, and a resident of Cleveland, county of Cuyahoga, and State of Ohio, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Mold-Lifting Mechanism, of which the following is a specification, the principle of the invention being herein explained and the best mode in which I have 10 contemplated applying that principle, so as todist-inguish it from other inventions.

The present improvements relate to mechanism for lifting mold boxes from off the bricks therein, this mechanism being shown in my co-pending application, Serial No.

16,371, filed March 23, 1915, Patent. No. 1,227,764 out of which the subject matter of the present application has been divided. One of the objects of the present invention is the provision of mechanism for the above purpose, which will be simple in construction and will operate to remove the molds from the bricks without any jar orinjury to the latter, which has been a source of failure in mechanisms intended'for the same purpose in the past. To the accomplishment of the foregoing and related ends, said invention, then, consists of the means hereinafter fully described and-particularly point- 3 ed out in the claims.

The annexed drawings and the following description set forth in detail certain mechanism embodying the invention, such disclosed means constituting, however, but'one of various mechanical forms in which'the principle of the invention may be used.

In said annexed drawings Figure l is a side elevation of the machine; Fig. 2 is a sectional elevation taken 4 inside of the frame, this figure showing .merely the shafting and some ofthe connections between the same to illustrate the sequence of operations performed by the machine; and Fig. 3 is an end elevation of the hoisting mechanism.

The machine, which need not be described in all its details, comprises a suitable frame built up of suitable members 1, in which there is rotatably mounted upon a horizontal axis. a mam driving .shaft 2. The molds when brought fromf the press, enter the machine. upon a conveyer consisting of fspacedrolls 5 mounted at the right end of 'themachineasshown in Fig. 1. The rollers '5' which are Within themachine, are not driven, but are merely free to rotate, and.

laterally open receptacle '21, adapted to receive longitudinally therein a single mold. This receptacle or spider 21 is rotatably mounted about a horizontal axis, being attached to suitable bearings which are mounted in the frame 1. The spider carries a Patented ec. 2, 1919.-

gear 4 engaged by a gear 3 on the main driving shaft 2. 'Of these two gears the gear 3 is a mutilated gear having teeth extending but part way around its'peripher and being formed smooth around the rest of its surface to contact one of the two smooth portions 90 on the gear 4. The shaft 2, and hence the gear 3, are continuously driven, and the motion given to the spider will therefore be one half revolution for every complete revolution of the shaft 2, with a certain interval between the half revolutions to permit of the introduction and removal of the mold held therein. The smooth portions of the gears 3 andfl snugly contact each other, while the receptacle 21 is at rest, and prevent the same from movement. The mold is moved nto the receptacle from off the rolls 5 by means of a pusher comprisingpivoted arms'6 which are driven from the main shaft 2 by means of cranks 7 and 8, the former having a lost motion connection with the arm 6 by means of a square guide-block 14 attached to the arm 6 by a pin 20 sliding inthe open frame 81 of the arm 7. Attached to the upper ends of the arm 6 are longitudinally extending members 17, operating at their other ends over guide rollers 18, and provided with mold engaging plungers 19. 7 These latter are normally maintained-in the position shown in Fig. 2,

with their 'inold contacting ends held i positionto engagea mold by the weight 0 the other portion. In this position the members 19 have just been operated'to force the mold out of the receptacle. Upon the return of Prior to the introduction of the mold into the receptacle, a pallet is placed upon the top of the open mold box, the pallet placing mechanism comprising pivoted arms 10 operated by means of a bellcrank lever 11. The means for operating this pallet placing mechanism and the means for feeding pallets thereto, need not be further described. Ihe pallet placing mechanism will be operated as each mold is being conveyed into the inverting receptacle, the operation being so timed that a pallet will be dropped on each mold slightly ahead of the same, that is one side of the pallet extending over that side of the mold box which is adjacent to the receptacle. As the mold and pallet are moved into the receptacle, the pallet first contacts the pivoted arms 54 and is thereby brought into alinement with the inner side of the mold when the latter is positioned centrally in the receptacle. In this way it is possible to avoid the difficulty which has been so often eX- perienced in similar machines caused by improper placing of the pallets upon the molds.

By placing the pallets slightly ahead of the molds, that is with one side overlapping the forward side of the mold, the pallets are brought first into contact with the arms 54 and are thus straightened and alined with the molds, so that when inverted the bricks will lie properly on the pallet.

Mounted parallel to the main driving shaft 2, is a second driving shaft 24, driven from the shaft 2 through gears 22 and 23 mounted respectively on the two shafts. The shaft 24 carries at either end a large cylindrical cam :25, the two cams being provided at corresponding points with shoulders 83 adapted to engage the side of the pallet when the latter has been moved from the receptacle onto the cylindrical surface of the cams. The rotation of these cams therefore causes the removal of the pallets onto a gravity conveyer 26. This conveyor 26 will lead to the drying rooms, or rather to the conveyer which is used to carry the pallets and the bricks to the rooms where they are to be dried. and it is thus necessary to remove the mold box from the bricks and pallet before the latter reach the conveyer 26. p

The mold hoisting mechanism which constitutes the present invention comprises two spaced pivoted arms .36 to which are pivotally attached other arms 37 provided with inwardly extending fingers 93 adapted to be passed beneath the handles of the mold. These arms 37 are normally maintained in alinement with the members 36 by means of spring members 94 operating as illus trated in Fig. 3. Extending outwardly from each of the two arms 37 is a short rod 95' provided on its outer end with a roller 96. As the hoist is raised these rollers contact oblique faces 97 on flanges 98 on pivoted guides 99 mounted one on each side of the hoist and force the guides away from each other and out of the path of movement of the members 96. After the mold has been removed from the hoist and the latter is dropped, the rollers 96 engage on the other sides of the flanges 98 and thus the arms 37 are moved outwardly, enabling them to swing past the ends of the mold which has been passed between the members of the hoist. After therollers have passed below the flanges 98, the springs 94 cause them to snap back and engage beneath the handles of the mold as illustrated in Fig. 10. The operation of the hoist is secured through the arms 33 pivoted at 34 and connected to the arms 36 by studs 35. The arms 33 are alternately raised and lowered by reason of their attachment to a-link 32 attached to one end of a crank 31 ona shaft 30, this crank being operated by the rod28 connected to the crank 27 on the-driving shaft24.

fter the mold has been raised in this 7 hoist, it is brought into the position indi cated in dotted lines in Fig. 1, when it will be engaged by a cam 43 mounted on a transverse shaft 30, and by a cam 40 attached to anarm 38 which is attached to the shaft 30, and is driven thereby. There are two'of the cams 43 attached to the shaft 30, and'similarly two arms 38 which are connected by means of a shaft or rod 39 upon which the cams 40 are rotatably mounted, but are held from rotation by means of connecting springs 42 which permit a slight give on the part of the cams 40, when first engaging the mold, thus absorbing the shock of this engagement. The cams 40 and 43 thus engage the mold when it has been lifted to the topof the'hoist, and swingover the'mold, dropping it from between the two cams when the arms 38 pass the vertical. The molds, when thus dropped, fall upon a' conveyer 44 operated by sprockets 45 on the shaft 30, andover other sprockets mounted on the shaft 84. This return conveyei' is directly above and in the, same plane as the inverting mechanism, the hoist, pallet placing mechanism and the conveyer for removing the pallets with the bricks. The path of the mold after entering the machine is thus a roughly circular one, all parts of which lie in the same plane, thus permitting the machine to be made ina very compact manner, and securing great simplicity of driving connections between the various op erating shafts. The conveyer 44 passes over the sprockets onthe shaft 34 and down to 48, from which this conveyer will pass back over other sprockets 46 and 4:7 and the sprockets on the shaft 30.

At the discharge end of the machine there is mounted an inclined guideway 50 with which the conveyer 4A cooperates in the following manner: The mold boxes are brought by the conveyer against the upper curved end of the guideway 50, the molds when brought into this position naturally sliding or falling down this guideway onto the conveyer 51, mounted beneath the same. The conveyer 4-1 cooperates with the guideway 50, being parallel thereto, to retard and control the descent of these mold boxes, which may be accomplished by so positioning the conveyer 4-1 with respect to the guideway 50 that the former exerts a certain frictional pressure against the mold, and thus prevents it from falling freely down the guideway.

My improved machine is capable of handling a greater number of molds per day than any machine heretofore made, and se cures this increased capacity with a cheaper and less complicated construction than formerly. The simplicity in turn lessens the power required to drive, and makes this present machine a very practical one for the purpose.

Other modes of applying the principle of my invention may be employed instead of the one explained, change being made as regards the mechanism herein disclosed, provided the means stated by any of the following claims or the equivalent'of such stated means be employed.

I therefore particularly point out and distinctly claim as my invention 1. In mold handlingmechanism,thecombination of two vertically movable pivoted brackets arranged to swing beneath the ends of a mold upon downward movement, resilient means adapted to maintain said brackets beneath such mold upon upward movement, and other means adapted to swing said brackets away from the ends ofa mold upon downward movement.

2. In mold handling mechanism, the combination of two vertically movable pivotedbrackets arranged to swing beneath the ends of a mold upon downward movement, springs normally maintaining said brackets beneath the ends of such mold, means adapted to engage and remove such mold upon upward movement, and other means adapted to swing said brackets out of line with the ends of a mold during downward movement, said springs then acting to engage said brackets beneath such mold.

3. In mold handling mechanism, the combination of two vertically movable ivoted brackets arranged to swing beneath t e ends,

of a mold upon downward movement, springs normally maintaining said brackets beneath the ends of such mold, means adapted to engage and remove such mold upon upward movement, and movable, deflecting plates normally adapted to swing said brackets out of line with the ends of a mold during downward movement, said springs then acting to engage said brackets beneath the position by said brackets upon upward movement.

5. In mold handling mechanism, the combination of two vertically reciprocatory pivoted brackets arranged to swing beneath the ends of a mold uponcompleting their downward movement, and means adapted to automatically disengage said brackets from such mold upon their reaching a predetermined vertical position upon downward stroke.

6. In mold handling mechanism, the combination of two vertically reciprocatory pivoted brackets arranged to swing beneath the ends of a mold upon downward movement, and means positioned in the upward path of movement of said brackets and adapted to disengage said brackets from such mold upon downward stroke.

Signed by me, this 28th day of April, 

